In an article for Forbes, Dave Evans highlighted two very important stats. One came from the Financial Times, stating that “57% of U.S. industries would take 6 months to recover after 1 week of transport disruptions.” The other from the 2024 State of Manufacturing Report, which summarized that on-shoring manufacturing remains a top strategy priority for U.S. industry leaders. The significance of these two points is that they highlight the major proponents for American manufacturing. It helps avoid lengthy disruptions, and it grows more important to companies that recognize those benefits.
Economic and Technical Value
One of the key benefits of American manufacturing is that it adds to economic growth. “Morgan Stanley estimated that bringing manufacturing back to the US could add $10 trillion to the economy,” according to Business Insider. On top of that, it can boost the nation’s technological stance. Alongside efforts such as the increase in chip production, enhancing manufacturing in the States offers greater opportunity for a growth in our AI and robotics edge that both serves the future of the sector as well as individual industries such as semiconductor, pharmaceuticals, and advanced manufacturing systems.
Factories, Jobs and Technical Training
Reuters reported that industrial production grew by 1.0% in July after a decline in June, supported by motor vehicle production, durable manufacturing and electronic products. Batteries, solar and semiconductors are predicted to serve as pillars of the ongoing rise. TechCrunch reported that the country had only two factories dedicated to electric vehicle batteries in 2019, and around 30 are now planned or running.
Plants are going up in states from Michigan to South Carolina. The Inflation Reduction Act encourages battery components to be made in the United States, and the auto industry has invested nearly $100 billion. Construction spending by US manufacturers more than doubled over the past year, according to Census Bureau data cited by Business Insider.
Axios reported that roughly 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been added in the last two years, with Goldman Sachs forecasting 200,000 to 250,000 more in the next two. The National Association of Manufacturers has stated that a lack of specific technical training could leave 2.1 million roles vacant by 2030. That gap puts pressure on training for current and incoming employees, and it raises the payoff from organized data, plant efficiency and cybersecurity. Manufacturers can audit those three areas before their next hiring push, and the smaller shops stand to gain the most.
Boosting SMEs
While a piece for the World Economic Forum pointed out that the “number of manufacturing firms and plants in the US has fallen by about 25% since 1997,” the resurgence of a U.S. based sector has the potential to increase that number, specifically among small and medium-sized (SMEs) manufacturers. SMEs often struggle to keep up with larger firms and their adaptability to the shifting technological environment. But by producing the manufacturing solutions they need, including American-made industrial computers built right here in the U.S., we can knock down those barriers of entry that allow them to remain competitive and even diminish supply chain issues.
Sources
“Powering Progress: How U.S. Manufacturing Drives Innovation And Growth” – Dave Evans, Forbes
“Bringing manufacturing back to the US is a $10 trillion opportunity for the economy, Morgan Stanley says” – by Jennifer Sor, Business Insider
“6 countries successfully growing their manufacturing – and what they are doing right” – David Elliot, World Economic Forum
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/6-countries-successfully-growing-their-manufacturing/
“Accelerating Digital Technology Adoption Among U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers” – Robert D. Atkinson, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
https://itif.org/publications/2024/04/19/accelerating-digital-technology-adoption-among-smes/
“Motor vehicles lift US manufacturing output in July” – Lucia Mutikani, Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/motor-vehicles-lift-us-manufacturing-output-july-2023-08-16/
“Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America” – Rebecca Bellan, TechCrunch
“The US is building factories at a wildly fast rate” – Noah Sheidlower, Business Insider
“America’s manufacturing boom could add 250,000 jobs in two years” – Emily Peck, Axios
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/21/manufacturing-job-boom-semiconductor-renewable-energy
